Content Marketing Fails: How to Overcome 10 Top Mistakes
Barry Feldman: September 24, 2017
Content marketing ain’t magic. It takes an intense amount of work to make it work. Most companies simply aren’t serious enough to reap the benefits.
I should add, the content marketing fails most companies are bound to experience also trace to not knowing what needs to be done. In the rush to join the exciting world of online publishing, marketers tend to make critical mistakes.
On the great blog at OptinMonster, Sharon Hurley Hall published 21 Content Marketing Mistakes the Experts Really Regret. If you click-through (later, please) you’ll see her roundup Q&A post includes my thoughts about content marketing mistakes—and insights from many more experts.
While I was initially inspired to simply republish it, I changed course along the way. I decided to use Sharon’s research and reporting to address…
- Why are there more content marketing fails than successes?
- What are the common mistakes marketers make?
- What can a content marketer do to overcome them?
Let’s rock a top 10.
1. Start
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Procrastination (or is it fear?)
My friend, content marketing expert and author, Arnie Kuenn, wrote, “The best time to start content marketing was five years ago. The second best time is now.” So true.
I believe the business has matured to the point where many simply watch from the sidelines with the opinion “that ship” has sailed. Get over it. Get into it. Get going. A year from now, or when your efforts begin to bear fruit, you’ll thank yourself.
Here’s blogger/trainer/consultant Heidi Cohen, mother bear of the Actionable Marketing Guide…
“My worst content marketing mistake? Despite writing a bi-weekly Actionable Analysis column for ClickZ since 2004, I put off starting my own blog. Once I decided to start blogging, I wrote for six months before opening my writing to the world. Guess what happened: Very little,” Heidi wrote.
“Lesson: Just. Do. It.”
2. Make a plan, work it, and adjust
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Flying blind
“Random acts of content” is an expression used often to describe a very real problem. Content Marketing Institute’s Joe Pulizzi has been saying it for years: Those that fail with content marketing tend to NOT have a documented plan.
“Generally, the worst and most common content marketing mistake I see is companies who don’t have any kind of plan, rhyme, research or reason behind their content,” said copywriter Joel Klettke. “They blindly chase trends or write to a keyword set without any further thought to how pieces link together or connect to their overall funnel.”
“Content marketing is not the process of shooting out as much ‘relevant’ content as you can; every piece should have a purpose and a goal. There should be calls to action in your pieces, invitations to value, some greater purpose to your publishing than just publishing on its own,” wrote Joel.
“Avoid this problem by learning to think in funnels. WHY are you creating a piece? What’s the goal? What is the goal of the person who will read it? How can you stretch the value of that piece out by repurposing it, or connecting it to other opportunities to learn or convert?”
“If you don’t go in with a plan, you might as well flush your cash down the toilet.”
Marketing consultant Erika Heald chimed in with a similar sentiment. “The worst content marketing mistake I see marketers making is jumping in and creating content without a plan. Taking time to develop a content strategy, including robust buyer personas, gives you the foundation you need for an effective content marketing plan.”
3. Understand your audience
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Bailing on personafication
This one’s a biggie. Content marketers don’t take the time to created detailed buyer personas. Rather than learn exactly who they’re talking to and what challenges they face, they make broad assumptions. I’m quoted in Sharon’s post saying…
“The common denominator of content marketers that fail to achieve their goals is a lack of understanding of their audience. They write about their products or whatever their agenda is.”
“Your agenda has to be educating, entertaining and inspiring your audience. You’ll only succeed by seeing things through their eyes.”1
4. Optimize for search
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Snubbing search
When Sharon wanted to hear from me regarding my biggest regret when staring with content marketing, I responded, “I was an SEO unbeliever. Or ignoramus.”
“See, all bloggers struggle to build an audience in the early going, so I’m not going to go so far as to say if you learn the essentials of search it becomes a cakewalk. However, when I finally opened my eyes and learned the SEO ropes, my blog took off far faster.”
“I learned so much about how to create content that ranks, I wrote a book, SEO Simplified for Short Attention Spans. I mention that not only to plug my book, but to stress that you need not become a world-class SEO nerd. You simply need to understand how to create and optimize content so it earns traffic from Google.”
Brand manager and blogger Ann Smarty contributed some valuable thoughts that speak to problems number 3 and 4 on my top 10 list…
“Unbelievably, I see more and more businesses neglectkeyword research. They either lack an in-depth analysis or lack an integrated approach. Keyword research should be integrated into everything you do: Videos, blog posts, customer support ‘Help’ pages, ‘About’ pages,” Ann wrote.
Keywords are not just for rankings. They help you understand what your customers are searching, and hence analyze the demand and optimize the pages for better user retention. Keywords help you address customers’ needs better on your website pages and thus build audience, leads and sales.”
5. Convert visitors to subscribers
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Focusing on traffic, but not conversion
I like to say, “The goal of your blog and content shouldn’t be to get people to your website, it should be to get them to subscribe to it.”
“My bigest content marketing mistake wasn’t a one-off but a strategic error. The mistake? Not taking advantage of the traffic the content was generating in building my email list,” said content marketing leader Jeff Bullas.
“It cost me over 100,000 subscribers. That is a big mistake. I fixed it by creating pop-ups that captured emails and built my email list. Today I have over 160,000 on my email list.”
6. Be an asset
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Confusing content with advertising
I’ve seen this lesson often: “Don’t preach; teach.”
Another good one: “Ditch the pitch.”
I’ll add, “Be an asset, not an ass.” While it’s probably the biggest source of content marketing fails of them all, many treat their content as an advertising platform. They can’t get over themselves. They can’t let go of an antiquated approach and as a result, they repel readers by treating everything they publish as a brochure.
“The biggest content mistake I’ve seen other companies make is to make the content promotional,” says B2B content marketing champion, Michael Brenner.
“Use your content marketing to publish 100% completely customer-focused content. Then nurture those readers with offers for deeper engagement. Eventually you can send them product offers. But most brands start promoting their products too soon.”
Marketing writing expert Debra Jason concurs, adding the problem is “starting with the product.” She offers a great lesson…
“Don’t write copy that starts with the product/service. Customers don’t buy products; they buy what the products do for them (i.e., benefits, solutions). Your goal is to catch readers’ attention long enough for them to want to stop and read all of your content (or watch your video).”
“Begin with the concerns of your reader. Tell him/her ‘what’s in it for me?’ (WIIFM). As a writer, create a picture in your mind of your readers – their lifestyle, their wants/needs, their pains or frustrations. Then, identify with them, put yourself in their shoes and write.”
Debra adds:- Focus your headline on the single strongest benefit you can offer your reader. The goal of your headline is to get them to read the next line. So, if your headline doesn’t catch attention – you lose your audience. You want people to see your value.
- Promise something magnificent BUT do not lie. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep or you’ll lose the reader. Keep in mind that BAD news travels faster than good, so keep your readers happy.
Evoke interest by:
- Using short, simple sentences to start out with. Clarity is extremely important.
- Writing TO people (not AT them).
- Touching on emotions. People react emotionally. So let your words touch on people’s emotions.
- Encouraging them to read more by making your content easy on the eyes. If your paragraphs (or your sentences) run really long, you risk losing your reader.
7. Focus on quality over quantity
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Publishing crap
Take it away, Jayson deMers, CEO of AudienceBloom…
“I think the worst mistake I see is marketers focusing on quantity, rather than quality content. There’s this perception that more articles in circulation are going to lead to more followers and more activity, but that’s just not the case.”
“A few years ago, Moz and BuzzSumo ran an analysis that showed the vast majority of content never gets a single link or share, but a minority of content—the best of the best—attracts tons of links and shares,” he adds. (Though he’s oversimplified Buzzsumo’s findings, his point is valid.)
“The fix is straightforward; spend more time on each piece you produce. Include more details; be more concise; rely on different mediums; link to higher quality sources; present fuller arguments; and write in a clearer, more audience-friendly way.”
“It’s more difficult and more costly, but it’s definitely better to have one phenomenal article than a hundred throwaway pieces that nobody wants to read.”
Bravo, buddy.
8. Mix it up
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Monotony
While I believe successful content marketers, create a plan and abide by it (adjusting when necessary), I strongly feel a ton of brands fall into the trap of becoming painfully predictable.
As a reader, I want to be able to depend on specific content sources for consistent quality, but want to see some variety as well. Otherwise, I get bored.
Far too many content marketers are one-trick ponies. They don’t allow their blogs, hubs, vlogs, podcasts—whatever their sweet spot is—to grow and cover more ground with a greater variety of media. My post, 33 Dependable Sources to Get Content Marketing Ideas, was written to teach “stuck” content creators how to better understand their audience and uncover useful topics.
9. Market your marketing
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Not promoting your content
My friend and podcasting partner Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Studios points out an extremely prominent problem…
“The most common content marketing mistake isn’t the content. It’s the marketing. People write something, add an image and hit publish, then go on with their day thinking that they did a good job.”
“This isn’t marketing,” Andy wrote.
“If you publish but don’t promote, no one is going to find, read or share your article. Or almost no one.”
“The fix? Never create a piece of content without a plan to drive traffic to it. That means aligning it with a keyphrase and topic that people search for. Or collaborating with influencers who may share it. Or sending it to an engaged list of subscribers who will love that subject line. But put at least as much effort into promotion as creation.”
Andy says, “‘Post and pray’ is all content, no marketing. And it doesn’t work.”
10. Commit and don’t quit
Top 10 Content Marketing Mistake: Dabbling
I began by telling you content marketing ain’t magic. And I imagine you’ve gathered by now, it’s not easy. It seldom produces instant results. Persistence and patience are required.
“If you take a look at this description found on the Content Marketing Institute website you’ll find these words: ‘valuable, relevant, and consistent content,'” wrote social diva Ileane Smith.
“Over the last couple of years, I’ve only managed to fulfill two out of three on this list. Yes, my content is valuable (at least I think it is), and it’s certainly relevant, but when it comes to consistency I give myself a 6 out of 10.”
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Joe Pulizzi will be the first one to tell you that if you aren’t going to be fully committed to content marketing, then you might as well not even try to use it. You have to be all in!”
Jeff Bullas is one the most respected voices in the industry because he tells it like it is…
“One of the biggest content marketing mistakes I see people and brands making is not persisting at consistent content creation.”
“You need to think about content marketing as a long term digital asset building play. According to Bill Gates, ‘Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.’”
“Over time content will build search engine authority, traffic and trust.”
“Play the long game.”
Thanks Jeff, Heidi, Joel, Erika, Michael, Debra, Jayson, Andy and Ileane. And thank you again to, Sharon Hurley Hall at OptinMonster. Good stuff.
No one’s in this business to fail, but fail you will if you fall prey to these common mistakes.
Read more: http://feldmancreative.com/2017/09/content-marketing-fails-10-top-mistakes/
Read more: http://feldmancreative.com/2017/09/content-marketing-fails-10-top-mistakes/
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